Sure enough, Arnold’s voice rang out the very next second.
That guy’s advantage in the realm of vocal timbre was unrivaled. Given enough time, after being polished and mellowed by the years, he would absolutely become the kind of man whose voice alone could make people weak in the knees.
Arnold himself had never thought this was anything worth mentioning, but Teresa had noticed that whenever he used that voice now, it came to him as naturally as breathing.
His slightly hoarse voice carried a sigh-like emotion from deep in his throat. “Actually, I also—”
“My family is always busy, so we don’t spend much time together. Most of the time, I have only the food processor for company. If I could regularly enjoy meals like this, I imagine I’d have more energy during training too.”
Pei Liang had always possessed a rich imagination. The moment he heard Arnold mention training, she thought of the close-quarters combat sessions at the military academy, and of the glittering sweat that would spill over the dark skin of that dark-skinned Alpha, clinging all over his body.
He looked just like a chocolate bar coated in nectar—an out-and-out hormone bomb.
So she quickly put a large chicken leg into Arnold’s bowl. “How can you lack energy during training? Eat more, eat more.”
“You can come over for a free meal anytime.”
A smug smile spread across Arnold’s face, leaving Teresa staring at him in shock.
Was this really his childhood friend—the same straightforward, thick-headed guy who constantly offended people without realizing it?
But more than that, Teresa was puzzled by the sudden flare of irritation that had risen inside him. An inexplicable urge to compete became impossible to suppress.
His mouth spoke before reason could stop him. “Arnold does have his own difficulties. Since his family has been away from him for years, he isn’t very good at getting along with people.”
“Other than me, you’re the first person he’s been able to talk to so easily. But I’m worried he won’t get along with anyone else, so I’ll stay with him.”
Then he turned to Pei Liang. “You don’t mind, do you?”
How could Pei Liang mind having a handsome young man in front of her? Besides, Teresa really did usually serve as a bridge between Arnold and other people.
Without him, Arnold’s terrible temper was sure to offend even more people—though Arnold himself didn’t particularly care.
Hearing this, Arnold looked at Teresa in disbelief.
Friends were friends, but why did he feel as if he had just been used by his own best friend?
And yet Teresa merely flashed him a radiant smile. “What is it? Is the chicken leg not to your taste?”
“Who said that?” Arnold hurriedly shielded his bowl. The food on the table was almost gone by now, and there was no way he would give up one of the main dishes.
The atmosphere at the table grew somewhat strange. The four of them exchanged glances, each showing contempt toward the others.
Yet, inexplicably, there was also a certain tension in the air. An atmosphere of barely restrained competition hovered over the dining table.
Hill was sitting across from Pei Liang. He got to his feet and prepared to serve her some food.
With a smile, he said, “You haven’t really touched the dishes over here, have you? Pass me your bowl.”
Pei Liang handed it over without thinking. But whether he had done it intentionally or not, a drop of sauce fell onto her wrist as he served the food.
Hill immediately put down his chopsticks and took the bowl from Pei Liang’s hands. His face was stricken with panic. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t careful. Let me wipe it off for you.”
He glanced around and then looked at the hot towel beside him. Embarrassed, he said, “But I’ve already used the towel.”
Seeing how nervous he was, Pei Liang felt it was completely unnecessary. She wasn’t some harsh, short-tempered benefactor who enjoyed tormenting people. The little stray was acting so anxious over such a minor matter—it was obvious how insecure he was.
Just as she was beginning to feel sorry for him, she felt a warm, moist touch against her wrist.
Looking down, she saw that the little stray had directly taken one side of her wrist into his mouth and used the tip of his tongue to lick away the drop of sauce.
Then he looked up and smiled at Pei Liang. “All clean.”
Pei Liang’s heart warmed, and she felt a little regretful about her carelessness today.
She should have been doing something pleasurable with Hill right now. If she had been just a little more careful, she wouldn’t have been reduced to merely looking at him from a distance.
But the other three men were completely dumbfounded, their chopsticks digging painfully into their hands.
Damn it, what exactly did the blue-haired guy do for a living? Did he have no shame at all?
That was what they were thinking, and they ended up asking it aloud.
Arnold and Teresa found it awkward to ask, but Lancelot wasn’t nearly as restrained.
He simply said, “Sis, this gentleman—”
“His name is Hill,” Pei Liang explained.
“This Mr. Hill—what exactly is his relationship with you? Arnold and the others said he looks unfamiliar, so he probably isn’t from the Imperial Military Academy, right?”
“Where is Mr. Hill studying? And which planet is he from? As far as I know, there isn’t a family named Hill on Imperial Capital.”
Hill smiled, his expression calm. “It’s only natural that the two gentlemen find me unfamiliar. I don’t have a status equal to yours, so I was never in a position to associate with you as equals.”
“I’m indeed not from the Imperial Military Academy. In fact, I’m not even a student. Hill isn’t my family name either—it’s simply my given name.”
“I was born in the slums of Imperial Capital. I’m just an ordinary mechanic and racing driver from there.”
The moment Hill said this, the other three men at the table sucked in a sharp breath.
They stared at Pei Liang in disbelief. “You’re actually involved with someone from the slums—”
Pei Liang raised an eyebrow. “I don’t even care about gender. Do you really think I’d care about his background?”
“Hill is wonderful. He works hard, has ambition, dreams, and talent. I like boys like that.”
At her words, Hill’s cheeks flushed, and a glimmer of moisture appeared in his eyes.
The other three grew furious at the sight. It wasn’t that they were ashamed to sit at the same table as someone from the slums.
In fact, even by the standards of the upper class, their values were far from conventional. Even Lancelot, the youngest among them, had his own standards for dealing with people.
Arnold valued strength and how comfortable he felt around someone. Teresa cared about character and compatibility. Lancelot, meanwhile, placed greater importance on individual talent. None of them regarded social background or status as the most important criteria.
But no matter how young they were, they still knew that someone from a place like the slums could never possibly be as soft and fragile as this man appeared, constantly radiating an affected air that practically begged to be pitied.
This guy was definitely a male bitch.
And he was making it look as though they were bullying him through their influence.
Lancelot gave a dry laugh. “We were just curious how you two met.”
The real reason was too embarrassing to say out loud. It would be humiliating.
Pei Liang said, “I suddenly felt like visiting the slums for fun. Then I ran into some idiots who didn’t know who they were dealing with, and Hill helped me shake them off.”
“Is that so?” Lancelot said. “Then your luck is truly terrible, Sis. You only made one impulsive trip to the slums and ran into trouble that serious.”
“With your strength, even if some thugs in the slums happened to target you on a whim, how could you possibly have needed to run away?”
Lancelot couldn’t really be blamed for being suspicious. Based solely on the information Pei Liang had provided, combined with her abilities and the way she handled situations, the story did indeed sound strange.
What he didn’t know was that Pei Liang had only just arrived in this body at the time and hadn’t yet gotten used to it. She hadn’t brought her mecha either, and she had been driving a luxury car with the words “Come rob me” practically written all over it.
Even if the enemy was an existence this world could never contain, it was only natural for them to wonder whether everything her sister had gone through had been part of a scheme from the very beginning.
Even Teresa and Arnold turned serious.
Pei Liang waved a hand. “You don’t know the circumstances, so don’t overthink it.”
She had no intention of forcing these noble boys to get along swimmingly with Hill. They were never cut from the same cloth in the first place, so there was no need.
The hierarchy in this world was far too rigid. Even if Hill climbed as high as he possibly could, there was no way he could compare with the families the other three came from.
To put it bluntly, the path into high society had long since been closed. To the upper classes, people born in the slums were so filthy that even their blood was considered dirty.
The few scattered routes that remained were becoming a racer, an interstellar celebrity, or someone blessed with such absurd luck that they accomplished an unparalleled feat on the battlefield. Even then, they still could not compare with true nobility.
Pei Liang did not like lecturing people. She preferred changing the environment rather than changing people.
Seeing this, the three of them decided not to dwell on the matter. After all, Pei Liang was not the kind of person who let other people’s opinions sway her.
Arnold glanced at Hill, then at Pei Liang. His instincts told him he had fallen straight into that bitch’s trap.
He still had not sorted out all the details, but the result alone was enough.
The result was that, at a table full of people, Pei Liang’s attention was entirely focused on him. She even seemed to be taking his side against the others.
Arnold suddenly stood up. The tall, dark-skinned man rose so abruptly that everyone jumped.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I’m going to get some water.” As he spoke, Arnold walked over to the refrigerator a short distance from the dining table and took out a bottle of ice-cold water.
He twisted off the cap and started chugging it down.
The man had a fast metabolism and ran hot, so he sweated easily. After drinking the bowl of hot soup, a thin sheen of sweat had appeared on his skin.
His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Because he had tilted his head back, the hem of his shirt had ridden up, exposing a strip of firm, honey-colored abdominal muscles. It also made his ass look even perkier.
Pei Liang had glanced over absentmindedly at first, but then she found herself unable to look away.
It was a good thing this dark-skinned man had such overwhelming combat ability, and that, because of pheromones, most people in this world were naturally repulsed by members of the same sex. Otherwise, with how utterly unaware he was while seducing people left and right, plenty of them would have wanted to knock him out and drag him off to a locked room—
No, there was no need to knock him out. He was even more alluring when he was conscious and moving.
Pei Liang watched the dark-skinned man with great interest, as though he were a delicious side dish. Teresa and Lancelot, meanwhile, could not help grinding their teeth.
They were all Alphas. Who could understand an Alpha better than another Alpha? Once an Alpha began giving off provocative mating signals, their own kind were the most sensitive to them.
They did not even need to look over to know that the man was acting coquettishly.
Teresa wanted to shake him and make him come to his senses. It was embarrassing to admit, but on the night they had witnessed Pei Liang castrate herself, they had even stayed up all night discussing it. They had concluded that this fellow would definitely regret it.
But what was Arnold doing now? She and the blue-haired guy were clearly involved in some ambiguous relationship. It was understandable that Lancelot, as Pei Liang’s younger brother, would be unhappy for various reasons.
But where had this inexplicable competitive spirit of Arnold’s come from?
That was what Teresa was thinking, but what came out of his mouth was, “When I came in earlier, I saw your swimming pool. I really like the design and shape. Can we go down and play after dinner?”
Pei Liang felt so delighted she could practically burst into bubbles. What was this—Free Goodies Day?
“But did you bring a swimsuit? Should we order one for quick delivery?”
Teresa nodded. “Sure. My size is XX, and for the leg length, choose XXX…”
After giving a whole list of specifications, he had effectively sketched out his body measurements in everyone’s minds.
Pei Liang looked at Teresa. She had not actually seen what he was packing yet, but for some inexplicable reason, she still felt a restless heat stirring inside her.
Arnold set the empty bottle on the kitchen counter and looked at Teresa.
The two close friends narrowed their eyes at each other simultaneously.
[What are you doing?]
[What the hell are you doing?]
[What I do is none of your business.]
[Then what I do is none of your business either.]
[Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.]
[You think I don’t know what you’re doing?]
[I’m doing my thing. What’s it got to do with you?]
[You wouldn’t be asking if you didn’t care.]
Their gazes grew increasingly fiery before eventually settling back into calm. With perfect tacit understanding, they said nothing about the abnormality—and sheer embarrassment—of their current behavior or the other person’s.
Lancelot was left completely dumbfounded. Where had this whole pack of male bitches come from?
Hill was one thing. That guy was obviously selling himself through his looks. But what the hell were these two idiots doing?
Lancelot immediately realized the situation was serious and hurriedly asked his sister, “Tell me, do you only like Alphas? Are you only going to be with Alphas from now on?”
Pei Liang thought for a moment before answering solemnly, “I told you before that I like all three types in the ABO system. But considering certain factors, it’s true that I’ll most likely only be with Alphas and Betas.”
Still, it was obvious that if she was speaking in general terms without considering any particular person, she preferred Alphas.
Lancelot felt his vision go black. His sister liked that sort of thing so much that, in all likelihood, she would continue attracting this kind of bitch in the future.
Was he really going to have to spend the rest of his life watching male bitches pose and flaunt their bodies and looks in front of his sister, or use manipulative sweet talk to exclude members of their own sex, or put on a pitiful act to make her feel sorry for them?
He was completely unaware that he had already done several of those things himself.
Unwilling to give up, Lancelot asked, “Then tell me—when did you start… start being like this?”
“Did the Pei Family treat you badly? Or did something happen to you?”
Pei Liang reached out and rubbed her younger brother’s head. “I was born this way. Nothing I can do about it.”
“Even pheromone attraction doesn’t work on you?” Lancelot asked.
Arnold, who had been listening impatiently from the side, spoke without thinking. “Your sister can’t produce pheromones anymore. What good would pheromone attraction do her?”
“That woman only likes blatant physicality.”
“You understand everything, don’t you?” Lancelot shot back at him, only to realize what Arnold had just said.
His pupils contracted violently. “He… What did he mean?”
“It means I already had my gland removed.”
Pei Liang had barely finished speaking when Lancelot swayed twice before lunging at her and grabbing hold of his sister.
Tears immediately poured down his face. “Who did this to you? Who hurt you?”
Hill was equally shocked. No wonder Pei Liang had shown no trace of pheromones, even when they had been… together. So that was why…
Arnold and Teresa’s words completely confirmed that it was true.
“Who hurt her? She removed it herself. She shoved her hand right in and yanked it out—quicker than squeezing bile out of a snake. We couldn’t stop her.”
Pei Liang said proudly, “Of course. My hands have always been fast.”
Lancelot was practically crying himself stupid. “Why would you do something like that?”
“What’s the point of keeping this thing? Aside from bullying Omegas or letting an Omega’s pheromones influence you until you stop acting like a human being, what good is it?”
“Of course there is.” Lancelot answered instinctively. “An Alpha’s gland is a symbol of strength. Their pheromones alone can intimidate an opponent. Without pheromones, how are they supposed to attract an Omega?”
Pei Liang lazily waved a hand. “Then your sister doesn’t like Omegas. Problem solved.”
Teresa and Arnold had gradually come to accept the matter, and by now they also felt that Pei Liang losing her gland wasn’t really a big deal.
But how could Lancelot accept it so quickly? “Aren’t you afraid of being mocked by people weaker than you?”
Pei Liang flashed him a grin. “As long as they don’t say it where I can hear them.”
“But if they dare say it to my face, I’ll remove the tool they used to commit the offense. Then they’ll be able to empathize.”
Lancelot felt a chill run down the back of his neck. His sister really was one terrifying Alpha.
After this came to light, merely being involved with an Alpha hardly seemed worth mentioning anymore.
In any case, Pei Liang’s position was perfectly clear: she played for both teams.
Once the meal was over, Hill came to Pei Liang and whispered something in her ear.
Pei Liang immediately got up and led him upstairs.
The other three exploded at once. “We’re still here, you know! What are you two doing?”
Pei Liang smiled. “The checkpoint is about to close, and he has to leave early. I’m just getting him a few things. Wait for me.”
In the end, the three of them could only watch helplessly as the pair went upstairs, their fists slowly tightening.
Pei Liang brought Hill into her room, opened a drawer, and took out a ring. She slipped it onto his finger.
“This is a standard-model mecha. I used it back in middle school. It doesn’t have any specific rank requirements, so you can take it for protection.”
With a mecha, Hill would be able to avoid most of the dangers in the slums.
He stared at the ring on his hand and drew in a sharp breath, his heart pounding.
There were only a handful of mechas in the entire slum district. These high-lethality weapons for individual combat were never allowed to reach the lower classes, as doing so might trigger unrest.
As a result, their knowledge of mechas was limited to what they saw on screens. They had never even touched one.
And now, his benefactor had simply given him one.
Hill panicked a little. “This… I… This is far too valuable.”
Ever since getting involved with his benefactor, he had constantly felt that she was the one getting the short end of the deal. Even though he was the merchandise, and it was only natural for him to seek the greatest possible profit from his own position, he still couldn’t bring himself to think too highly of himself.
Because she really did give him far too much.
So what if she had no gland? With the way his benefactor spent money, she was more of an Alpha than every other Alpha combined.
And so Hill pushed his benefactor down into a seat, knelt before her, and murmured, “I calculated the timing. Even if we delay a little, I can still make it there in time.”
Pei Liang had never raised such an easygoing little stray before. However, considering the three people waiting downstairs, it was probably best that the two of them didn’t go down together.
After that, Pei Liang stopped going out during her breaks. Apparently, the lawsuit between the Valen Family and the Pei Family had already begun.
With the matter at the center of a storm, and Pei Liang herself being the most talked-about figure of late, the media naturally went wild again.
By the time the second event began, the entire affair had pushed Pei Liang’s popularity to its peak.
The second event was rather unusual. Even looking back over all the previous competitions, there had never been rules like these.
The rules were so bizarre that, instead of the usual lull in attention between the opening and closing events, viewership actually broke historical records at one point.
Before entering, the major media outlets surrounded Pei Liang.
“Contestant Pei Liang, the rules of the second event appear to greatly weaken your advantages. What are your thoughts on that?”
Pei Liang smiled. “No. Quite the opposite. I love the rules for this event. They’re much more interesting than those of the first.”
They really were interesting. Perhaps ordinary people caught up in the situation couldn’t see the purpose behind them, but Pei Liang, with her ruler’s way of thinking, had recognized it at a glance.
She was looking forward to it—in fact, she was practically impatient to enter the arena and converse from afar with the person who had established the rules: His Majesty the Emperor.
Most people, however, took her answer as nothing more than forced bravado.
After all, everyone knew that although Pei Liang was powerful, she was considered a late bloomer. Her evolution and the path she had forged for herself were her greatest advantages.
Therefore, after the rules for the second event were announced, Pei Liang’s support rate on the betting boards plummeted.
Before this, her odds had been extremely low—so low that there was hardly any value in betting on her.
Even so, her odds could never be as high as they had been in the previous event. Now that she had demonstrated her strength, there was no chance of anyone getting her at a bargain.
Another reporter asked, “Contestant Pei Liang, we’ve heard that the Pei Family and the Valen Family have recently taken your guardianship dispute to court. Is there anything you’d like to say about that?”
The question was rather awkward. Even the students from the other military academies frowned, let alone those from the Imperial Military Academy.
After all, they were future soldiers, not celebrities using their private lives to entertain the public. Fame made such things difficult to avoid, but raising the matter right before they entered the arena was clearly malicious.
Inside the control room, Richter glanced at the media outlet represented by that reporter and said to the person beside him, “From now on, ban this outlet from all events held on Imperial Capital.”
Yet Pei Liang, the person being interviewed, acted as though she didn’t care in the slightest. She was as calm as if the neighbors next door were arguing over custody of a child.
Even her answer carried the attitude of someone enjoying the spectacle. “Actually, having a little more fatherly love isn’t a bad thing for a child.”
The reporters fell silent.
One of them couldn’t help saying, “But it’s been said that Mr. Valen and your mother had a—”
Before he could finish, Arnold snapped irritably, “Hey! What kind of crap are you asking?”
An Omega’s biological traits made them submit to an Alpha’s pheromones. What people had grown accustomed to naturally became an ironclad rule.
To imply in front of anyone that someone’s Omega mother had betrayed her partner was an unspeakable humiliation.
The people from the Imperial Military Academy even suspected that certain reporters had been deliberately arranged by rival academies to disrupt Pei Liang’s state of mind. It wasn’t as though there had never been precedents.
But no one had expected Pei Liang to calmly say something so explosive.
“Yes, my mother’s looks and figure are both perfect. Having another child would ruin her shape. Otherwise, Mr. Valen wouldn’t have needed to pick up what was already there. We all respect her decision.”
So you’re actually applauding your birth mother for cheating?
An Omega’s beauty might be considered an embellishment, but their greatest duty was still to continue the genes of a powerful Alpha. No one had ever heard of someone refusing to have children out of fear of losing their figure.
For a moment, no one could understand her. The Omega community, however, developed an even more favorable impression of Pei Liang.
Seeing that the interview was about to turn into a farce, the organizers asked the reporters to leave ahead of schedule.
All the contestants entered the second arena.
It was a vast room filled with full-immersion virtual biological pods. Following the instructions, the contestants sat inside, put on their helmets, and instantly entered another world.
